WILKES-BARRE PA — Scott Rocks yielded for the pocket after a lightning 25.2 opener, then stormed up the famed Pocono Pike to win the $30,000 harness racing Open Handicap pace Saturday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Rainfall a half-hour before the feature was reflected in a downgrading of the red clay surface to "sloppy," but neither Scott Rocks on the inside nor Dynamic Youth just to his right seem to have gotten the news as they tore up the first turn, with Dynamic Youth finally making the top after paying the wicked price, with Dancin Yankee, 2014 Pennsylvania Horse of the Year and assigned outside in the field of seven, tucking in the big three-hole behind the streaking duo.
Dynamic Youth (driver Andrew McCarthy) moderated the middle splits to 54.3 and 1:22.4, with Scott Rocks (George Napolitano Jr.) and Dancin Yankee (Jim Morrill Jr.) maintaining their inside positions behind him, with the outer tier burning off before headstretch.
At that point Dynamic Youth went straight, Scott Rocks dove left, and Dancin Yankee angled right for clearance, and the stretch duel was on. Scott Rocks still had good energy after the early involvement and paced to the lead midstretch, but Dancin Yankee, still 2¼ lengths out at midpoint in the lane, was coming with a roar, and the winner had to stay sharp to withstand the late charger by a half-length in 1:50.1, with Dynamic Youth showing great tenacity to be only another neck behind at the wire.
Scott Point, sent off at 6-5, only $2 behind in the win pool behind Dancin Yankee, boosted his seasonal record to 8-4-3-0, and his bankroll now is $67,750 this year and $264,773 lifetime. The victorious Rocknroll Hanover gelding is trained by Chris Oakes for his wife Susan and Chuck Pompey.
PHHA / Pocono